CHAPTER 3: TOGETHER AND PLANS

When Meryl opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Milly looking anxiously at her.
Milly's eyes brightened when she saw Meryl wake, "Oh good!" she exclaimed, "You're finally awake, and here I thought you were going to sleep the whole day away."
"Uugh", Meryl groaned as she attempted to move. He body felt like lead. She managed to prop herself up against her pillow. Her eyes immediately scanned the room; there was no one there.
It must have been a dream, she thought and leaned her head back against the headboard. It all seemed so real, though. A little odd, but real. She touched her lips, remembering. If I saw Vash burst into the room, then who was it that I kissed? And what was Wolfwood doing in my dream?
"Thanks Milly, for waking me up", she said, "I must have been sleeping the morning away, huh? Sorry about that, guess I must have been really tired."
"Oh, Meryl, you're so funny. Asleep all morning!" Milly laughed merrily, "Hmmm, maybe you hit your head or something when you fell. You've only been out for a little over a half an hour.
"Huh", Meryl sat up.
Milly stood and walked to the door. "Well, I better go to the next room and check up on our guests. They've had a long journey and they both look really hungry.!" and she walked out of the room.
Meryl sat there with a dumbfounded look on her face, "What..? Been out? A half and hour? Guests? Wh...what's going on? Was it all.....real?"
She sprang out of the bed and made a mad dash for the door. Flinging it open, she pelted around the corner and down the hall. As she raced around the last corner she heard the click of a handle and the sound of footsteps. The door was in sight. She grabbed the handle and threw it open.
Only to come face to face with the humanoid typhoon.
"V-Vash?"she whispered.
He smiled at her.
Meryl smiled back. She couldn't help it. It was him.
"Oh, Vash!" she laughed, throwing her arms around him and hugging him with all her strength.
"Oofph! Hey It's great to see you too Meryl, but would you mind letting me breath so I can live long enough to enjoy it?" he chuckled.
"Oh, hua, sorry about that..." Meryl said shyly.
"Hey, it's ok. It's really great to see you." Vash said softly, and brushed some straggling hair away from her eye.
Meryl gazed at him. That enormous goofy grin, those blonde locks, that tall frame and handsome face. How could she have confused him with that other guy?
Wait a minute! The other guy! Was this some kind of prank?!
"All right mister!" she glared slapping his hand away and shooting daggers from her eyes, "What's the big idea? Would you mind explaining to me why there were two of you a moment ago?!" she fumed.
Vash put his hands up in surrender. "Hey, don't' get mad at me. It's not my fault!"
"Then who's the other guy who happens to look just like you?!" Meryl glared with her hands on her hips.
"Huh? Ooohhh I get it. The other guy", Vash said with a look over his shoulder into the room, "is my brother, Knives."
"Uh.........", her face fell. Vash stepped aside from the doorway. On a bed against the wall was Knives, still asleep, still peaceful. Meryl stepped into the room and stared at the nearly identical men.
To a perfect stranger the two would have been hard to separate at a glance. Meryl, on the other hand, saw her mistake immediately.
How could I have confused the two of them? she thought to herself. Although they were twins, she could pick out the differences in a heartbeat. Vash seemed to shine with life and energy, while Knives seemed so dulled and sad somehow. Their hair was different too; Vash had golden blonde locks, while Knives blonde seemed as if it had once been gold, which had worn off after time, leaving it slightly faded.
Meryl looked at Vash again. His scars were just visible around his sleeves and neckline. She glanced back at Knives. He had no visible scars at all.
"You're brother?" she frowned. "But.....but wasn't he.... He was the one who caused all that pain and suffering you told me about?" she looked doubtfully at the Knives. "Vash, are you sure this is safe?"
For a moment, Vash became very serious, "Yes. It's safe. Knives cannot cause any more trouble. He's lost the will. He even refuses to wake up." he said sadly.
"But he did wake up. I saw it!" Meryl exclaimed.
"What?!" Vash said, opened mouthed. "He did? He woke up? You actually saw him wake up?" Meryl clamped a hand over her mouth immediately after the words left her lips. She had spoken without thinking. Smooth one Meryl! Now he'll ask you when you saw this and how it happened, and you'll have to tell him he woke up when you were slobbering all over him, thinking it was Vash! she thought furiously.
Vash bounded over to his brother and began prodding him.
Knives remained asleep.
"Meryl", Vash looked at her, "You've got to tell me how it happened. When did you see him wake up?"
Meryl cleared her throat nervously and fiddled with the hem of her shirt.
"Uhmmm, I, uh, really don't know how it happened", she stammered, "He opened his eyes for a few seconds when I was.....um....when I was.....well......looking at him."
Okay, so far so good, Meryl, that wasn't a total lie.
"And then what happened?" Vash pressed, "Did you do anything?"
"Uuuuuhhhh", Meryl turned beet red and stared hard at the floor, "Well....I...ummm...touched him....." she said weakly.
"Show me." Vash said, coming over to stand in front of her. His face was inches from her own.
"Huh?" Meryl went white.
"Show me, Meryl." Vash repeated. "Show me what you did to wake him up."
"Uh.....well, I...." Just then the door was flung open and a blushing Milly came in attached to the arm of a grinning Wolfwood.
"Hi Meryl!" Milly waved. "Isn't it great to see everyone all together again?"
Meryl didn't respond. She had already fainted again.
"Hmm." Wolfwood leaned over her. "She sure seems to do that a lot."

Meryl awoke to the delicious smells of dinner wafting up the stairs from the kitchen to her dimly lit room. She inhaled deeply and snuggled into her pillow. The texture was smooth and soft, and she rubbed her cheek against it. Suddenly she had a flashback of rubbing her cheek against something else; a man's cheek, a man she thought was Vash.
She remembered! Her eyes flew open and she sat up in bed.
"Well, you're finally up." Came a voice.
Meryl jumped. "Who's there?" She asked, squinting into the dull light.
Vash leaned forward and Meryl stared open-mouthed at his face, which glowed in the soft light from the window. "I'm glad you're awake. You almost missed dinner." Vash grinned, "I thought I was gonna have to eat your share as well as my own, wow, what a relief."
He made a joke. Meryl sat dumbfounded for a moment before she smirked herself and said sarcastically, "Yeah, I bet that would have been really difficult for you seeing as how you're such a finicky eater, donut boy."
Both of them burst into laughter; Vash fall backwards out of his chair, making Meryl laugh even harder than before. God, she had forgotten how much he could make her laugh.
"Hey come on," Vash whined from the floor, "you've got an injured man down here." He lifted an arm in the air in mock pain.
Tears of laughter streamed down Meryl's face as she reached out and hoisted Vash up to his knees, until he was leaning his arms on the edge of the bed. "You got yourself into this predicament, mister typhoon, so don't you expect me to kiss it and make it feel all better." She joked.
She stopped laughed, realizing what she just said, and feeling very awkward and embarrassed. Vash stopped laughing as well and was looking at her with a strange expression on his face. Meryl thought he looked put-off.
She looked down, red-faced, and wrung her hands. "Umm, sorry, what I meant to say was....umm..."
Vash caught her hand in one of his. When Meryl looked up, she saw he was smiling at her.
"Don't worry, Meryl, I know you were joking. Besides, it's not such a terrible prospect now that you mention it." He quirked an eyebrow at her and chuckled.
"Ha! You're still a leach, Vash!" She teased.
Meryl relaxed and returned his smile again, softly laughing to herself.
Just then, light poured into the room as the door was opened wide. Milly came in wearing a cooking apron and tall chef's hat that were both covered in a splattering of sauce. "Soups' on! Come and get it while it's still warm!" She called out happily. "Oh," she paused when she saw Vash kneeling by Meryl's bedside with her hand in his, "I'm sorry, I didn't know I was interrupting anything, I'll just go back downstairs. You two can come down when you're finished." She said backing out of the room.
Both Vash and Meryl leapt to their feet. "Wait, Milly! It's not how it looks!" They both shouted in unison.
"Sure, whatever you guys say." Milly replied merrily from the hallway as if she was addressing children who had just been caught with their hands in the cookie jar and were trying to deny it.
"Well......I guess we had better go downstairs." Vash said.
"Yeah, you're right, who knows what stories they'll make up down there if we stay up here any longer." Meryl huffed. She started to go but stopped as she remembered something. "Wolfwood."
"Sorry?" Vash questioned.
"I saw Wolfwood, alive. He was standing with you and Milly in the doorway. Then later he came in with Milly again." She stammered. "Was.....was that real....or did I...."
"Nope, you're not hallucinating, Meryl." He said calmly, "I couldn't believe it at first either, but it's really true. He's alive! I'm sure he can fill you in on the whole story when we go down for dinner."
"Oh....oh my." Meryl breathed, taking it the information slowly. "This is wonderful. Oh, I'm so happy for Milly! She....hey! How come she didn't say anything to me. She just acted like everything was normal. She didn't mention once that Wolfwood was back!"
"I think", Vash begin, "that she didn't want to upset you anymore. She accepted Wolfwood coming back to life almost immediately. She even helped rescue him from a band of thugs. I think she thought it would take you a little longer to come to grips with it, that's all."
"Milly," Meryl said smiling down at the floor, "she still manages to surprise me sometimes." She chuckled again and looked back up at Vash. His eyes sparkled in the glow of the rising moons as he smiled at her, and she felt herself melt at the sight of him. "Alright you," she said grabbing his arm, "let's get downstairs before those two human vacuums inhale all the food!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Vash saluted.
Meryl marched off toward the stairs with Vash following happily in her wake.
She really is a good girl." He thought, gazing at her rich black hair as it bounced out behind her.

Louis pounded his fist on the rickety table. The half empty beer and liquor bottles clanked as they rolled together from the force. A few fell off the table and smashed to the ground with harsh crashes. Louis seemed not to notice. He was shaking with rage.
"That...arrogant... bastard...!" He seethed.
"Calm down, Louis." Said a tall red-haired man from across the beaten table. "It wasn't your fault! I mean, he is the 60 billion double dollar man for a reason you know...."
"Shut up, Sean!" The angry man shouted. "I know...I know...I KNOW!" He grabbed a full bottle of bear and hurled it against the wall.
"Hey man, that was my beer!" Whined a short bald man seated next to him.
"Yeah? So what Tony!" Louis yelled. "That son of a bitch humiliated us today! And just when we were so close to getting our hands on that reward stash to!" He fumed as he nursed a banged and bandaged arm. "Damn him, it'll take weeks for my arm to heal."
Louis slumped back into his chair. Sean and Tony looked at each other, utterly confused.
"But you know, Louis, there were others with him." Tony piped up. "It wasn't like he was all on his own, ya know."
"Yeah!" Sean added. "If he was alone, we could take him down, no problem."
Louis breathed heavily through his massive moustache. "That stun gun bitch and that fucking priest...those shits..." His eyes moved back and forth rapidly as his brain worked.
Then, an idea.
His face cleared and a toothy grin appeared from behind his moustache as he leaned forward on the table.
"I guess we've got no choice boys. We'll just have to take his little friends out first, that's all."
Sean looked like a baboon that had just been asked to solve a very difficult calculus problem. "Uh...how are we gonna do that, Louis?" He asked.
"Yeah", Tony squeaked, "it's not like he's gonna take a stroll on his own anytime soon, now he knows we're still around."
"Well," Louis smugly leaned back in his chair, "we'll just have to find out which of his little buddies is his favorite. Then we'll grab the sucker and use'em as bait to lure that half-wit out to the desert. The other's 'll be too busy lookin' all over town for them, and that," Louis smashed an empty bottle against the table and pointed the broken point out in front of him, "is when we'll take him down."

Milly had never been so happy in her entire life. Not only had the man she loved come back from the dead, she had all her friends together sharing a warm delicious meal in perfect peace.
Well....I guess it's relatively peaceful... She thought to herself as she watched Vash and Wolfwood wrestle each other for the last flapjack.
"Hey leggo! I reached for this one first!"
"No way! You had like ten of them already! I've only had eight!"
"Whatever! I saw you snitch five before dinner!"
"Did not!"
"Liar!"
"Needle noggin!"
"Boys! Knock it off! Honestly, you're both behaving like four year olds!"
Milly smiled, misty eyed at all of them, as she reached over, speared the last flapjack for herself and ate it in two bites. "Isn't it great being all together like this again!" She said through the mouthful of food.
Vash and Wolfwood both gaped for a second, and then fell over in defeat. "Maaannn." They both whined in unison.
"Well, it serves you both right." Meryl said shortly, crossing her arms in a huff.
"Who wants dessert?!" Milly called out as she sprang up from the table.
Wolfwood and Vash immediately leaped back into their seats and raised their hands like school kids. Meryl shook her head as Milly went to the kitchen to get dessert.
"So, Mr. Wolfwood," she turned to the priest.
"Please, call me Nicholas." He said, wiping his mouth with his napkin.
"Well thank you, Nicholas. I just can't get over your story. It still really seems like you've come back from the dead. I just so amazed you survived all of that."
"Thank you. I'm pretty happy to still be alive and kicking." Nicholas said kicking Vash in the leg when he caught him trying to snitch some bacon off of his plate.
"Ow! Dammit, that hurt. Geez, I'm glad for the alive part, but not the kicking bit." Vash moaned.
Meryl laughed at the two of them good-naturedly. "Milly is right though, we have missed the two of you very much. Life just wasn't as exciting without you. By the way, you two still haven't told me how you got away from that gang earlier today. I'm really surprised, this is such a quiet little town."
Vash laughed and put his hands behind his head, "Gee it wasn't too tough, nothing an ace gunman like myself couldn't handle." He gave Meryl a roguish wink. She blushed pink and looked down.
"Uh-huh," said Nick, "and that's why all the thanks for my rescue goes to the big girl here. Isn't that right, honey?" He turned to the kitchen door where Milly stood with a tray full of pudding bowls.
"Oh it was nothing, Dear." She said merrily.
Vash sunk under the table, looking embarrassed. "Hey, I helped." He sulked.
"Now Nicholas," Milly said as she put the tray on the table, "Mr. Vash is right. He was a great help and you know it. Who else could have distracted that truck by pretending to let it chase him so I could shoot the grappling arm to free you? By the way, Mr. Vash, I have to tell you how impressed I was at your acting. You really made it look like you were running for you life." Milly smiled innocently and filled her bowl with a heaping amount of pudding. The others looked at Vash.
"Uh...haha..." he laughed weakly, sinking so low under the table all they could see was the spikes of his hair.
"I see." Said Meryl, raising an eyebrow at Vash. That doofus, she thought happily, he'll always be like that. I'm so glad.
"More pudding anyone?" Milly piped.

It was late in the evening when they cleaned the table. The shadows crept into the room and the night breeze came in soft cooling waves. The four friends felt comfortable and content for the first time in a long time. Meryl was showing Milly how to can the leftover food so it would last longer, when Wolfwood came up behind them and tapped Milly on the shoulder.
"How about joining me for a walk girl? It's a gorgeous evening." He said and extended his arm for her.
"Oh, that sounds like a great idea, Nicholas. I'll be ready after we finish cleaning up." She indicated the piles of groceries, leftovers, and dirty dishes heaped all over the kitchen.
Meryl saw Wolfwood glance at the state of the kitchen dejectedly and turned to go.
"Wait a minute!" She called out. "Milly, why don't you go on ahead with Nicholas? I'll finish up in here."
"Are you sure, Meryl?" Milly asked in a concerned voice.
"Absolutely", Meryl answered. "Go on now, get out of here. The evening's too nice to miss!"
Wolfwood's face lit up as he and Milly were shooed out of the room. Before leaving, he caught Meryl's eye and mouthed Thank you.
Meryl smiled at them as they strode out into the open air, arm in arm. But her smile faded when she turned to face the disaster area that was the kitchen. Boy, you both owe me, big time!

Wolfwood felt Milly clutch tighter to his arm and shiver slightly from the cold. He wrapped his free arm around her shoulder and drew her close to his chest. The porch swing they were sitting on creaked with every move they made, but it soon fell into a soothing rhythm. Milly rested her head on Nicholas's chest and breathed deeply. She could hear his heart beating, the pace increasing slightly every minute.
Tilting her head, Milly gazed up at the night sky, now illuminated with stars. Mesmerized, she watched them twinkle and shine.
"You were right. It is beautiful tonight." She breathed.
Wolfwood looked down at her and moved his hand to intertwine his fingers with her own. His other hand, which was around her shoulder, played absently with her long soft hair.
"Almost as beautiful as you are, big girl." He said smiling at her.
"Oh, Nicholas, you say the funniest things sometimes." She giggled.
"Hey! I wasn't trying to be funny!" Nick pouted folding his arms in mock anger. "I was trying to be romantic! Hmmm, I guess I'm not that good at it yet."
Milly put her arms around his shoulders and drew him close. Her breath tickled his ear as she said, "I think you're very good at it."
Wolfwood felt his senses leap at the slight vibration her words caused. His whole body seemed to tingle from the sensations as Milly continued to hug him tightly, her warmth pressed against his chest, and her hands gently rubbing his back. He brought his own arms around her and pulled her even closer, resting his face on the sensitive skin of her neck. Milly giggled again, "You're stubble tickles," she whispered in his ear.
Again Wolfwood shivered at her words, "And your mouth is doing the same to me. And I only know one way to stop it." He said deeply as he brushed his lips along her exposed neck, up across her check and finally came to rest on her mouth. He kissed her as lightly as he possibly could, savoring each point of contact. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold out for very long, but to his surprise, Milly leaned forward first, pressing hungrily into him. Chuckling to himself, Wolfwood put all his passion into returning her kiss. Both their hands clutched each other's arms and backs. Wolfwood found Milly's hair and sank his hands into it. Milly caressed her way down his back, pressing her palms into his lower spine and massaging some of the tension from it. Wolfwood groaned into her mouth from the feeling, and they both inhaled deeply as the sound heightened the pleasure of their embrace.
This is what I've been missing, Wolfwood thought to himself. I've found my home. And he deepened their kiss again.
All at once his eyes shot open in surprise. He gave a squeak and nearly jumped right out of his shoes. Milly had brought both her hands down and was firmly squeezing his butt. She paused to look at Nicholas, "What's the matter?" She asked innocently.
"I...wa...uh...umm," he stammered, "it's just...that..I thought that...well, I know last time was a bit of a whirlwind, but I thought you would want to take slow this time?" He said, his face glowing bright red, shocked at her sudden forwardness. "I never would have pegged you as the aggressive type in a situation like this."
Milly smiled brightly, "Oh, Nicholas, you really are funny. Isn't this what you wanted to do when you took me out on a stroll tonight?"
Wolfwood stared, open-mouthed.
"It's all right, dear," Milly chirped, "that's why I came with you. After all, when two people love each other, it's part of what they do, isn't it?"
"Milly..." Wolfwood breathed as he reached out a hand to stroke her cheek. "Do you...love me?"
Her eyes glistened in the moonlight as she gazed at him, "Yes I do, Nicholas. I know I didn't say it before, and that last time I...well, I wanted to say it, but I guess I was too scared." She looked down as if she was ashamed of herself.
Wolfwood placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face to his. Then he reached out, took hold of both her hands and placed them soundly on his butt again.
"So was I." He spoke softly, and kissed her.

Meryl glanced at the clock on the mantle over the kitchen fireplace. Eleven-thirty, and those two still weren't back from their "walk." She surveyed the spotless kitchen once more and dried her hands on the kitchen towel. As she did, she grinned to herself. Vash had come down halfway through the cleaning and volunteered to help. He seemed to hang on her every instruction. How to preserve leftovers, how to get out nasty grease stains, how to clean up broken glass properly. (He had accidentally broken several jars at once when he attempted to juggle them into the cupboard at the same time.) Meryl chuckled at the memory. It surprised her that she didn't get too upset at his little blunders anymore, because, she knew that's all they were, and they made him even more endearing.
"Hmm, I never would have thought I'd ever find that clumsy broom-head cute."
Meryl threw the towel in the laundry bin and made her way over to the couch by the back door. She flopped down and stretched her limbs luxuriously, cracking her joints and giving a loud sigh. Vash had gone upstairs moments before to check on Knives and to see if he was hungry at all. Meryl still felt a little guilty over the incident earlier this afternoon, and tried to put it in the back of her mind. She closed her eyes, and was asleep almost instantly.
From behind the thick curtain of night a pair of dark narrow eyes watched her through the rusty screen door.

Next Time on Edge: Chapter 4 Dreams and Reality